Exclusive | Coronavirus Hong Kong: ‘dynamic zero’ strategy is about saving lives, universal testing cannot be slipshod exercise, says top mainland China expert
- Visiting expert Dr Liang Wannian says government must walk careful line in devising effective strategies and maintaining stability of society and Hong Kong’s global status
- ‘[Mass testing] can’t be like you step on a watermelon rind and then let yourself slide to wherever it takes you to,’ Liang says, noting careful preparation is necessary
Pursuing a “dynamic zero” strategy in Hong Kong’s coronavirus battle is not about aiming for zero infections, but saving lives first, and the city can achieve it in stages with firm, clear actions while ensuring economic and social stability, a top visiting Chinese epidemiologist has said.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Dr Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commission’s Covid Response Expert Team, also sought to reassure the public why universal testing should be pursued, but only after putting in place an “effective strategy” and a proper system.
Liang, the highest ranking mainland health official sent to Hong Kong to coordinate the battle against the fifth wave of the pandemic, called on residents to be patient as the administration weighed the ideal time to carry out citywide screening and set about assessing its capacity to do so.
In recent weeks, the controversial issue of mass testing, which the government initially said would be conducted this month, has sparked panic buying and prompted residents to leave the city amid confusing signals on its timing and scale. But on Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the exercise would be delayed to a date to be fixed, as she shifted her pandemic strategy to adopt Liang’s recommendation to focus on “three reductions”, or cutting down on deaths, severe cases and infections.
Asked how he would reassure residents, including foreigners and mainlanders, who had left Hong Kong over fears of the lockdown and more infections, Liang prefaced his views by saying the subject was “complicated” and “difficult to answer”.
He said he believed there was no doubt mass testing through the use of the nucleic acid tests would be effective in controlling the spread of the virus, but emphasised careful consideration and preparation was needed beforehand.
“It can’t be like you step on a watermelon rind and then let yourself slide to wherever it takes you to,” he said, using a colloquial Chinese phrase akin to the English slang that one should not just “wing it” when undertaking a task.